Oil Jumps Past $95 as Iran War Threatens 2nd Route
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Brent crude rose almost 5% to more than $95 per barrel — its highest in nearly six weeks — while U.S. crude climbed more than 4% past $88, per the report.
- U.S. gas prices climbed 5 cents to a national average of $4.06 per gallon, according to AAA data cited by NBC.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. remains open to diplomacy but that Iran "doesn't seem serious," even as strikes on Iran hit an 11th straight night.
- Strait of Hormuz traffic collapsed to just 9 ships on Tuesday and 13 on Monday per MarineTraffic data, far below normal levels.
- Iran-backed Houthis announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a new front in the conflict and rattling shippers in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, where several crude tankers reversed course on Tuesday.
- Bab el-Mandeb remained functional with 73 ships passing Tuesday, but analysts at ING warned tankers avoiding the strait would face added time and expense by rerouting through the Suez Canal for Asia-bound voyages.
Why it matters: With both the Strait of Hormuz (9 ships Tuesday) and Bab el-Mandeb now threatened, two of the world's three main oil chokepoints are simultaneously under pressure — meaning Saudi exports that previously bypassed Hormuz via the Red Sea now have no easy alternate route, tightening the physical supply ceiling just as Brent pushes past $95.
